What’s at the top of my to-do list?
--Wrap and box up Adopt a Family gifts...we drop them off tomorrow.
--Finish painting Abby's room and hang pictures.
What have I accomplished?
--Cleaned Kitchen junk drawers
--Painted most of Abby's room (still need to do closet wall).
--Went through a bunch of Abby's toys. Got rid of all the little pieces she doesn't play with and organized what she does want to keep.
--Rearranged her furniture and got inspired to do new decor based on two letter paintings (one "M" and one "A" that will go over there beds. Decorating people say to always start with something you love and build an entire room around it. I think that's a good way to figure out where to start. Well I LOVE these "letter pictures" Maybe I'll post a photo of them.
Allow me to digress: Currently, I have some pretty bold colors in Abby's shelving, drapes, and bedding. Now I'm thinking about going with softer colors based on these pictures. I'll show the bolder colors later too. Luckily, the bold bedspread I want to get rid of was inflicted with dark green marker scribbles when Abby was three. And it was cheap...so I don't feel bad at all getting rid of it (after all she's 7 now). I held onto it because I wanted to make sure she was through the scribble stages (This is the same girl who tore her border in the old house, strip by strip). The curtains, were also cheap. They are two table clothes split in two to create panels and then hung on clip rings. They were purchased after valentines, on clearance, because they were supposedly valentine theme merchandise. I just loved the color. All of these things came from Target, BTW, my favorite store. The shelving is in great condition, however, and I feel a little bad getting rid of that. It was my little "splurge" for something that was very "kiddish" and would be outgrown quickly (I'm so darn practical that it's hard for me to buy things like this). But maybe total, I spent $50-$60 on 3 pieces. Maybe I can give them to someone.
I can't wait to see the final results. You will definitely see pics.
What’s bugging me?
--Poptart filling ground into my carpeting
--Stawberry applesauce on my white kitchen curtains
--The same strawberry applesauce stained on my white bedspread
--The fact that we took the time to read the Narnia books as a family so we could see it together as a family (minus Ben and Mary). That we bought our tickets in advance, got a sitter for the little ones and planned on going to opening night (tonight), then Abby got sick. She seems better today...but just 26-34 hours ago she was puking her brains out (pasta and koolaid...not pretty). We are 26 hours puke free. We are playing today by ear. She spent most of the morning on the couch, but now she is up and about. Those are the signs I look for. That, and appetite. She's eating again...thank God. We'll see...
What's my latest obsession?
--There is a CD out there called Master Cook ( http://www.valusoft.com/products/mastercook.html ). It has 8000+ recipes. You can do searches on keywords (whatever you want to make) and it will find the recipes for you. You can create a shopping list off of the recipes and you can import from the web. Doesn't it sound cool? All for $20 and it doesn't take up the space of cookbooks!
Dierbergs has one of these too with all of their recipes which many people rave about. Theirs is only $10. These are both on my Christmas list.
--I know I said this before, but I love my new Ostrich feather duster! I'm dusting more than I ever have because it's so much easier! No spray, and no knocking over knick knacks because it's so light. It gets into all the knooks acranniesy's (that just felt funny typing those words out...not sure I spelled them right).
--Microsoft Outlook!!! OMG. I'm doing all my organizing in this program. I thought it was just e-mail!! I had no idea you could organize your life on it! I have a to do list in "Tasks" and have put everything on the calendars which you could view weekly, monthly or daily. Every "task" has room to put additional information if you click on it. Then you have a separate "Contacts" sections where you can put e-mail addresses. If you click on the contact, you can see more info like mailing addresses, phone numbers, directions to that person's house, etc.
Everything is in one place! I used to use a paper planner, but I find this easier. I'm a quicker typer than a writer and I am on the computer a lot so it's a great fit for me. I print out my calendar monthly and post it on my fridge. I hang a more detailed, weekly calendar below it. I'm not writing things three times on three calendars. I just print the same calendar out as many places as I want it...like my purse. Or if someone wanted one at work than they'd print an extra for work.
Also, you can rank your tasks by priority or put deadlines on it and the computer will prompt you with a reminder when the deadline is nearing. You can use this reminder function in the calendars for daily activities like cleaning your house, monthly activities like meetings, and annual activities like birthday's, dental appointments, etc. So I haven't even got close to using it to it's full potential but I am planning to try. It's awesome...and it was hiding in my e-mail all along.
What's been making me happy?
--Thinking about Christmas and Ted's week off of work
--My friend Theresa is coming in town from Australia and I can't wait to see her
--Holding other peoples babies. Being happy to do so without the urge to have another of my own.
--Dusted surfaces
--The little heater we put in our bathroom...ahhh no more cold toilet seats and showers...
--The fact that I had a chance to write this blog! (Mary's much less clingy today)
--A wonderful outing with my mom to see Riverdance. It was awesome...and it was good bonding time with my mom. We had some great conversations in the car. I always thought because we are so different, that we could never be that close. But I realise now that I accept her as she is and she accepts me as I am...and we laugh a lot when we're together. I realised how much I love her...just the way she is. And sometimes, different is better.
No comments:
Post a Comment